Silicon carbide abrasive product and method of manufacture



Patented- May 9, 193E!) I SILICQN CARBIDE AEBRASWE PRODUCT AND METHOD OF MANUFAETURE Lowell H. Milligan and Robert Worcester, Mass., assignors to H. Lombard, Norton Company, Worcester, Mass a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing. Application January 28 1937; Serial No. 122,790

8 Claims.

The invention relates to silicon carbide abra sive products, such as grinding sticks and the like, bonded with ceramic, or vitrified, or inorganic oxide bonds.-

application is a'continuation inpart of our copending application Serial No. 48,694 filed November 7, 1935. r

One object of the invention is to provide a ceramic bond for silicon carbide which does not 10 react materially therewith during firing. An-

other object of the'inve'ntion is. to provide a ceramic bond for silicon carbide which does not cause detrimental swelling of the article during 35 Another object of the invention is to provide a ceramic bond for silicon carbide capable of being of silicon carbide.- Another object of, the invention is to avoid cranng abrasive product. Another object of the invention is to eliminate oxidation 'of silicon carbide .to silica.

Another generation of carbon monoxideand carbon di oxide in a silicon carbide abrasive product as it i is being matured. Another object of the invention is to provide a ceramic bond for silicon carbide avoiding detrimental reactionsjsuch as the 30 formation of undesired silicates. Another object of the invention is to prevent the formation of a pumice-like structure in the bond.

Another object of the invention is to avoid undesired variations in grade hardness of abrasive products having silicon carbide as the abrasive material. Another object of the invention is to provide a ceramic bond for silicon carbidewhereby there may be manufactured, if desired, an abrasive product of a high degree of porosity. 49 Another object of the invention is to provide a strength bonded with ceramic bond.

Another object of the invention is to achieve some or all of the foregoing objects, avoiding slumping of the product in the kiln. Other objects will be in part bvious or in part pointed I put hereinafter. The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, 59 arrangements of parts, and in the several steps and relation and order of each of said steps to one or more of the others thereof, all as will be illustratively described herein, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the 55 followingjclaims.

wheels, honing matured during a short period firing stage" at a low temperature, thereby. avoiding oxidation of a wheel or other object of the invention is to avoid the silicon carbide abrasive product of high tensile The grinding wheel made according to this invention may be termed a ceramic bonded grinding wheel and the word ceramic is used in its broadest sense as meaning composed of inorganic oxides matured by heat. Similarly, by reason of the fact that the product is produced by firing the formed shape in a kiln, it may be-said to be vitrified, although in a more restricted sense this means making something glass-like, and in the case of certain embodiments of the invention and under certain conditions, not all of the ingredients of the bond are converted, during firing,

to the vitreous stage.

We provide a quantity of silicon carbide abrasive grain. This grain may be of any desired grit size ,for the manufacture of the desired type of abrasive product but we prefer/to vary the bond formula within the limits hereinafter defined as the gritsize'of the silicon carbide varies, as will be hereinafter pointed out. 1 K

- Our bond includes a prefired glassy frit which is cooled and crushed to a powder. .Our bond further includes some plasticizing material. In one form of the inventionwe provide and mix with the frit a plastic clay or clays, taking care that the composition thereof is such that the total ingredients of the bond will be within the formula range hereinafter given. On the other hand, for certain products, we may plasticize the frit and abrasive grains with a solution of Glu- -toline or other organic plasticizer, which is burned out previous to or during firing and leaves no detrimental residue. f

In order to avoid deleterious oxidation of the silicon carbide abrasive grain, and in order to achieve many of the objects hereinbefore given, we mature the formed shapes, consisting of the abrasive grain and the bond, at a relatively low firing temperature. We have found that a' good product can be made using a temperature in the range between 860 C. and 1040" C. We prefer I a temperature in the neighborhood of 925 C.

Considering now the bond as a whole, we select ingredients which, when fired at the low tem- 'perature range mentioned will have the following fired formula for 90% at least thereof:

. TABLE I Fired bond formula, 90% of bond iercentages by weight In the above table the oxide of'alkali metal is preferably soda or potash or mixtures of the two. We prefer to use soda, because it is cheaper and more readily available. However, oxides of the other alkali metals may also be used. One function of these oxides of the alkali metals is to act as'a flux. We may also include in the final formula of the bond a limited amount of alkaline earth flux, for example lime and magnesia.

Relatively speaking, silicon carbide is acidic in its reaction. Silica andboric oxide are also relatively acidic. Bonds made according to the above formula are, therefore, characterized as having relatively large proportions of relatively acidic ingredients. We desire to avoid as much as possible detrimentalreactions with the silicon carbide grain during the maturing of the bond. We achieve this result by using a large proportion of relatively acidic ingredients. The use of a low temperature for maturing the bond also reduces reactivity between the bond ingredients and the silicon carbide and, furthermore, reduces detrimental oxidation of the silicon carbide grains, by the oxygen which may be present in the kiln atmosphere or otherwise. Therefore, these two -featurescooperate together to achieve the many objects of the invention heretofore stated. In order to cause the bond ingredients to soften sufficiently to bond together the silicon carbide abrasive grains, we have provided fiuxing constituents comprising alkali metal oxide and boric oxide which lower the'fusion point of the cementing glassy phase to the desired degree, at the same time achieving sufiicient acidic nature by using the proportions indicated to limit deleterious reaction with the silicon carbide. By using boric oxide together with the limited amounts of soda and/or potash or other alkali metal oxide fluxes, with or without some lime, magnesia or other alkaline earth fluxes, we reduce the temperature at which the bond softens sufficiently.

In the above table the alkaline ingredients are limited in order that the net reaction of the entire bond ingredients during firing may be substantially non-reactive towards silicon carbide grain. Preferably we use only small quantities of the alkaline earth fluxes, if any. We desire to keep these ingredients to a maximum of 5%.

The alumina ingredient is a more or less neutral material and has valuable properties which include the quality of reducing reactivity of the bond toward silicon carbide. This may involve its specific chemical nature or may be connected with increasein theviscosity of the glassy phase attendant upon its use. At all events, we have found that beneficial results are achieved by the use thereof in the proportions indicated .in the foregoing table. I

The bond will generally include other ingredients which may be termed impurities. For example, titania, which is probably not detrimental up to'several per cent, is present in one of our bonds,

made according to a preferred example hereinafter given to the extent of .6%. It is considered to be a relatively inert ingredient. Another impurity which is usually present, simply because it is practically impossible to eliminate all of it, is iron oxide, F6203, which is more or less of a flux. In one of the preferred examples hereinafter given, it is present to the extent of .3%. If it could be eliminated, our invention could be well carried on the other hand we cases be present, stillachieving some desirable TABLE 11 Frzt composition-Minimum ingredients Percentages by weight Silica, SiO2 45 to 68 Boric oxide; B203 20 to 40 Oxide of alkali metal 3 to 10 During firing of the product in a kiln, the hit is relatively non-reactive towards silicon carbide abrasive grain. In the above table it will be seen that the silica and the boric oxide constitute a total proportionate amount at least of the entire frit. These materials are relatively acidic and relatively non-reactive towards silicon carbide abrasive grain; The frit softens at a low temperature on account of the relatively high proportion of the total fluxes, boricoxide and alkali metal oxide, that are present. The oxide of the alkali metal cooperates to unite the silica and boric oxide together into a serviceable frit, but the amounts of alkali metal oxide employed are sumciently low to prevent deleterious alka- 'linity and to maintain the required acidic nature of the frit. The frit may also include other ingredients; for example it usually has'some alumina, and may contain a little alkaline earth oxide .to improve its chemical stability and resistance toward water. In so far as certain features of the invention are concerned and under certain conditions, the entire bond may comprise the frit, in which case the frit will satisfy the conditions in Table I as well as in Table II.

7 Example I For the manufacture of silicon carbide abrasive products using abrasive grain of grit sizes ranging between 60 mesh grit size and 220 mesh grit size, we may proceed as follows:

Taking a quantity of silicon carbide, abrasive grain of grit size #80,'we provide a ground frit TABLE III Frit composition Per cent Silica, SiQi 54.5 Boric oxide,'Bz0a 37.9

Soda, NaaO 7.6

Taking 75 parts by weight of the frit of Table III, we add 25 parts by weight of Kentucky ball clay and 5 parts by weight of mullite powder. These ingredients are thoroughly mixed together and constitute thebond according to this example iaioaose of the invention. This bond has the following total calculated chemical compos tion by weight:

wheel with the bond of our invention, we may take one and one-half ounces of bond to one pound of silicon carbide abrasive grain. The grain and the bond should be well mixed and the preferred procedure is as follows: Place the grain [When a good mix in a mixing pan or mixing machine, add water and distribute the water evenly. throughout the' then add the bond and continue mixing. has been achieved, a measured abrasive grain and bond is placed and then the mold is grain,

quantity of the in a suitable mold, pressed stripped and the pressed moved. This is then dried in an oven to remove the water and finally is fired in a kiln at the temperature range hereinbefore given.

The preferred firing practice is as followsz'The temperature is raised to 925 C.within two or three hours time, then maintained at thisltemperature for in the neighborhood of four and onehalf hours, thencooled for a somewhat longer period, for example around twelve hours, to room temperature.

According to this "preferred example above given, the plasticizer is the ball clay. There being a considerable quantity of ball clay present, the mass is plastic. In certain cases we may add a quantity of a temporary binder to give added green strength. Such a temporary binder is pref erablyan ingredient which will burn out, leaving no detrimental residue prior to attaining the highest temperatures in the kiln. We may use Glutoline (methyl ether of cellulose or we may use dextrine. It"shouldbe understood that the or green product is reproportions of abrasive grain and bond will be varied in order to obtain specific grinding wheel structures and structures in other abrasive'products and the ratio given is a more example and over a long range every embodiment is a preferred example for grindingunder particular conditions, but this variation of grinding wheels. and other abrasive products is well understood.

' In certain cases we find it advantageous to add 'to the frit composition a quantity of hydrate of alumina, usuallyless than 5%. This introduces some of the A1203 ingredient into the frit. This, and also lime which may be added to the frit, tends to reduce'solubility of the frit.

Example II For the manufacture of silicon carbide abrasive products using between 240 mesh grit size and 600 mesh grit size, we may proceed as follows:

Taking a quantity of silicon carbide abrasive grain of grit size #500, we provide a ground frit made as follows,

16.9% of boric acid, 51.4%

abrasive-grain of grit sizes ranging Y percentages being by weight: Twenty-one and three tenths per cent of borax, of ground flint (S102) plastic clay,-

'siredprocedure of mixing bond. As a mere actions between many co 3 9.9% of hydrate of alumina (sem -3 33% of calcium carbonate, and .16% of magnesia are ground and then thoroughly mixed together, then fused and quenchedwith water, and'then reground to an impalpable powder. chemical composition, by weight, of this hit is as The fritof Table V may be used without any but with a suitable plasticizerand temporary binder, for example 3% Glutoline to make a grinding wheel or other abrasive product in accordance with the general I procedure given for Example I, or any other deabrasive grain and may take 30 lbs. of this 500 grit 8 lbs. of the frit of Table V moistened with a 3% solution of Glutoline, pressed and fired in accordance with the procedure given for Example I.

With regard to the fine prefer to use a relatively high silica content and more alumina in thefrit to reduce reactivity. In this case, these const'tuents in the fired bond may be derived largely from the frit, because we may use a lesser amount of plastic clay, as in the example given when bonding fine grit sizes. V Furthermore, duringlthe firing of fine grit products, the presence of clay or other similar material in the bond is less important than for coarse 40 grit products for two reasons, viz:'

1) The fin'e grains of silicon carbide function mechanically as an undissolved or partially undis-r solved constituent in a manner somewhat similar to clay, toward increasing the apparent viscosity 45 vision of a bond which not only matures at'a low temperature where oxidationof the grains is low, but which also maybe. matured rapidly so that the total time of firing is comparativelyshort. This not only saves expense the article, such as a grinding wheel, but it also reduces theIpossibility f oxidation of silicon carbide 'grains substantially'to a minimum. This short firingperiod is achieved because the re-- have been completed at a high temperature in the manufacture of the frltj j V Features of the product made according to this invetion-are that a much greater per cent of the silicon carbide abrasive grain, by weight, 310 l which was put into themix, remains inthe final of products used for sensitive grinding opera- [5 The calculated 5 solution of my example of one structure, we 25 silicon carbide and 7 grit size products, we 30 or none at all 35 percentage of alumina and A feature of this invention resides in the pro- 55 in manufacturing no tituentsof the bond 65 tions. Furthermore, the tensile strength for a given volume structure of the grinding wheel is increased.

One reason why a wheel or other abrasive product bonded according to the invention has greater tensile strength is because such portion of the bond as was derived from the frit exists in the form of a. glassy cementing phase which has high strength for its given chemical composition. That is'to say, by proceeding according to the invention, the physical characteristics of the bonding are such as to result in a greater strength thereof than would be the case if a lesser amount of the ingredients had been converted to the molten stage. As a corollary to this feature of the invention, it is possible to make a highly porous wheel which is as strong as less porous wheels made with previously known porcelanic bonds. As tensile strength in a grinding wheel is a vital factor it, therefore, may be said that it is possible according to the invention to make a silicon carbide grinding wheel of a high degree of porosity.

It will thus be seen that therehas been provided by this invention a method and an abrasive article in which various objects hereinabove set forth together with many thoroughly practical advantages are successfully achieved.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the chemical features of the above invention and as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all without departing from the scope of the invention, it is to be under-.

stood that all matter hereinbefore set forth is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

'1. The method of making bonded silicon carbide products comprising the steps of mixing bond constituents which will provide a relatively; acidic borosilicate glassy frit containing 45% by weight of SiOz, 20%. to 40% of B20: and 3% to 10%, of alkali metal oxide, fusing said ingredients at a temperature at which the reactions are completed, cooling the frit and pulverizing ,it, mixing silicon carbide grains With the frit and a plasticity developing agent and I shaping an article therefrom, thereafter firing the shaped articleat a temperature between 860 C. and 1040". C. to vitrify the bond and subsequently cooling the mass and thereby providing a bonded article in which the solicon carbide lgrains have not reacted materially with the article according to claim 6 in which ceramic bonding materials comprisinga plastic clay are mixed with at least 50% of the frit, and the fired bond has the following formula. for 90% terially; with silicon 2. The method of making a silicon carbide at least thereof: $102 45% to 70% by weight, B203 15% to 40%, A120: 3% to 20% and oxide of alkali metal 3% to 10%. w

3. A silicon carbide article comprising silicon carbide grains united by a vitrified ceramic bond formedfrom a plasticity developing agent and a prefired glassy frit, the latter constituting at least 50% of the initial bond ingredients, and at least 90% of said bond containing 45% to 70% by weight of $102, 15% to 40% ofBzOs and 3% to 10% of alkali metal oxide, and the bond maturing at a temperature below 1040 C. and being relatively acidic in nature and substantially nonreactive to the silicon carbide at the firing tem per'ature.

4. A silicon carbide article comprising silicon carbide grains bonded by a Vitrified ceramic material made froma prefired glassy frit forming at least 50% of the bond and a plasticity developing clay material, at least 90% of said bond comprising 45% to 70% of S102, 15% to 40% of B203, 3% to 10% of alkali metal oxide and 3% to 20% of A1203, said bond maturing at a temperature between 860 C. and 104010. and being relatively acidic in nature and ,substantially non-reactive towards silicon carbide atthe firing temperature.

5. A vitrifiable ceramic bond comprising a prefired granulated frit combined with material capable of proving the required plasticity and viscosity for bonding "silicon carbide grains, the frit constituting at least 50% of the total mass, and at least 90% of the total bond containing SiOc within the range of 45% to 70%, B203 within the range of 15% to 40% and alkali metal oxide within the range of 3% to 10%, and the bond being relatively acidic in nature and capable of maturing at a temperature between 860 and 1040' C. without reacting macarbide grains bonded thereby.

6. A bond of the type covered by claim which contains from 8% to 20% of A1203 and which has a high content of acidic metal oxides and a low content of 'basic metal oxides and is substantially non-reactive to the silicon carbide at a. temperature below 1040 C.

7. A bond of the type covered by claim 5 wherein the prefired granulated frit is combined with plastic ballclay forrendering the mass moldable.

. 8. A bond of the type covered by claim 5 wherein the prefired granulated frit contains S102 within the range of 45% to68%, B203 within the range of 20% to 40% and alkali metal oxide within the range of 3% to by CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,158,05I w May 9, 1959.

.LGAELL H. HILLIGAN, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specificati on of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page first column, line 5'6, claim 2, for the claim reference numeral 6" read 1; and that the said Letters Patent should b'eread with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and seale'dthis 12th day of s eptember, D. 19 9.

I 1 I HenrTVaLnArsdale, (Seal) v Acting" Commissioner of Patents. 

